It just wasn't for me. I had a hard time with the voice and the style of writing. I think it's a really clever idea, and had it been executed differently, I'm sure my interest would have been held.

This story begins as an allegorical after-life journey, that reminded me of classic morality tales like The Pilgrim’s Progress, but then develops into a combination of star-crossed love story, Stardust-esque fantasy adventure and philosophical treatise on life, death and morality.

I was utterly entranced until the big climactic scene, then slightly disappointed, as the ending I had thought we were building to didn’t materialise. While the actual ending here is touching and reasonable, it didn’t involve any consequences for a certain entity who deserved them, so I felt like they learnt nothing from events and were free to continue being awful for the rest of eternity! (Booooo!)

Still, I loved the other characters – Cloth, San, Mot, Oz, Chitra Icarus… even Balthazar! – and the story gave me lots to think about, as well as plenty of entertainment, so I would definitely read more from this author in future. And Grendal was so ridiculously, deliciously, irredeemably evil, which made an ironic foil to Eternity’s spoilt, tantrumming toddler attitude. It’s rare to find such clearcut ‘baddies’ in modern fiction and I quite enjoyed loathing them without any complicating sympathies!

Beautifully written, this slowly unfolding modern myth would be ideal for YA readers upward looking for a thought-provoking but still easy-to-read story.

A truly unique take on death. A touching story with great world building and well thought out characters development.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review

A really fabulous palette cleanser between heavier and lengthier books!
I would say this is definitely young adult, the tone and language seemed to be geared towards younger readers. However the plot was brilliantly inventive and an interesting take on death as the MC.

I loved the plot of this book. It was very unique and intriguing. The only thing that bothered me was the writing style, it made it really hard for me to read.

The grim reaper is a gardner. Not as bad as you might think. He really just wants to tend to his flowers and not all the people who are mortal and kick the bucket.

I love a a modernized retelling/exploration of folktales and themes. This story examines Death in a new way and for a debut, I think it was successful! The themes explored and plot points woven in felt well thought out and purposeful, not just "oh I want to include this particular scene, let me force it in just because" which I appreciate with a fantasy novel. So often, scenes feel written for the sole purpose of including a particular trope and I didnt get that feeling with this story. Cant wait to see what the author writes next!

Death, the Gardener has an aesthetic and it is sticking to it - and that is, I think, the best part about this book. This book knows its tropes and aesthetics and it sticks to them well, while also providing an interesting story. Occasionally the metaphors and turns of phrase the author experiments with don't quite hit the mark, and come off as strange, and at times characters - especially villains - end up spouting dialogue that sounds like it was ripped from a children's cartoon. But the world created in this book, with its blend of fantasy and sci-fi elements, is really interesting, and the author has built the characters, especially the leads, with complexity, and I liked seeing how their struggles with mental health were portrayed. The prose also manages to describe the various different settings in a way that leaves you with a very clear image in mind, but without being long-winded or boring. Overall this book had a few ups and downs, but was a worthwhile and fun read.

A well written, multilayered, complex mix of fantasy and speculative fiction. The author is an excellent storyteller and this is an excellent book
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I thought this was a quirky title to a book. Yet I never quite imagined how unique it truly was. The Grim Reaper or Death being a gardener makes sense in ways I'd not thought of before. The author did a fabulous job of writing Death's characteristics and character. I may reread this book at some point in the future. I can honestly say I enjoyed the book. Until next time Happy Reading!

Such an interesting concept on the role of death and life. Love the interactions with Time and Memory to show how all aspects of the world are created. Would absolutely love a sequel of further adventures.

I think this was more of a 3.75 for me but I rounded it up to a 4. I liked the worldbuilding and the traveling between planets and worlds. The characters were fun and the whole plot was interesting. I liked discovering the world through Cloth's eyes at first, it felt like I was her, waking up in a strange place and trying to understand how it all worked. Death/Mot was an interesting character, not really what you'd expect of him. There are 2 things I disliked: the first one being too much description. That's really a matter of personal taste, I think this could've been a little shorter because it was too descriptive for me, but some people like it this way. The second one is the vocabulary choice. We're talking about centuries old characters that say "ghosting" and "weirdo" even though they've been living alone on a very small planet for ages. If you like lots of description, then this might be for you !

⭐️ ⭐️ . 75

This was an interesting premise. I really enjoyed Death as a main character; his personality was interesting and the key plot of the story was compelling.

However, this is a book that should be directed towards younger readers. Originally, the description and the title caught my attention! It seemed super intriguing. The writing style was unique, it is not something I am used to; consequently, I had a bit of difficulty getting into this book. I found that the style of prose is very distracting, and certain scenes did not make complete sense to me.

Nevertheless, the idea and plot behind this book was fantastic, it is what I would describe a YA fantasy with sprinkles of romance, mystery, and adventure.

This was heavy on the fantasy aspect, and was a really interesting premise. I really enjoyed Death as the main character. I liked his ‘personality’ and I enjoyed the language and the interaction with Cloth. I also enjoyed the writing. The world building is intense and will absolutely appeal to those who enjoy a high fantasy world.

I loved the description of the book and the story was definitely interesting, but I did struggle with the writing style as others have also mentioned.

I also felt that this book should be directed at younger readers.

I loved the the premise of this , as I am really drawn to books with Death as the main character, but sadly I found this to be slow, too much telling when the author needed to show, the grammar needs more editing work, as it can so easily change the meaning, sadly not for me

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Death, the Gardener did not work for me. The prose style was distracting, confusing, and overly ornate. I didn’t understand why the woman would be named Cloth, of all things. The point of view also seemed to meander within scenes which led to further confusion. The plot, however, was inventive and I think the writer will grow into his skill in time. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance reading copy.

In a Nutshell: A commendable debut fantasy combining folklore and myth in a fantastical setting. Enjoyed the story but the writing style, not so much. Might work better for YA lovers.

Story Synopsis:
You might know Death by many names, but in this book, he's a debonair gardener named Mot. Every person and creature has a rose in Death's garden, and when he snips a rose off, it ends that being's life.
When Cloth (there's a reason why she's named thus) wakes up in Death's abode, she learns that she's the first ever person not to pass on even after her rose has been snipped. But the cutting has resulted in her losing all her memories.
Mot offers her relief, promising her that he'll help her move on, but only if she helps him by hunting and killing three thieves who've stolen their life roses from his garden.
Can Cloth trust Death? Will she be able to kill just to be set free? Why is she the only soul who hasn't passed into what's beyond death?
The story comes to us in a limited third person perspective mostly of Mot and Cloth.



While the book isn't tagged as a YA work, I feel that the theme and the writing style will definitely click better with the younger audience. The book worked much better for me when I realigned myself to its being a YA Fantasy. That said, the fantasy includes adventure, romance (not spicy), and mystery as well.

The story is quite intricate and best discovered for yourself. There were a few scenes that felt odd to me, and some writing choices (the abundant use of "my darling", for instance) that were slightly annoying. But to my pleasant surprise, many of these get clarified as we progress with the book.

Mot, Cloth and most of the other major characters are well-sketched with a layered personality. Seeing Death's character as a gardener stuck on some distant planet with only his rose garden and Santiago (who happens to be the embodiment of Memory in the avatar of a koi fish) was a whimsical but enjoyable experience. I also loved Chitra, Mot's sentient cape. She reminded me of Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation as they both had the same attitude. (Chitra means ‘painting’ in many Indian languages, and is also a common girl’s name. I'm not sure if the author chose this name intentionally, but because of this nomenclature, Chitra the cape was feminine in my head, and her personality certainly matched this gender. It broke my heart to see *her* referenced as “it” by the characters.) The only characters who were more or less clichéd in portrayal were the negative ones. The motivation of the main villain ought to have been explained better to create a more believable scenario.

Many a time, the life choices the characters face were such that I couldn't help putting myself in the same situation and wondering what I would have done in their place. Courtesy these difficult situations, there are some beautiful quotes and philosophical ponderings in the content. (When you see me praising the philosophical aspects of a plot, you know that it was written without sounding too abstract or incomprehensible.) This makes the story somewhat slower in paced but it doesn't drag.

Fantasy relies greatly on worldbuilding and this novel certainly creates a beautiful picture of the various settings. My imagination kept wandering to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as many scenes became easier to visualise when connected to some or the other location in the movies. But this isn't to take away from the author's skills. His vivid imagination makes every location shine brighter, even when it's gloomy or morbid.

Of course, there are a few areas in which the book could have done better.
⚠ MAJOR COMPLAINT: The one thing that irked me the most was the use of contemporary language for the characters. Considering that Mot was an Eternal and Cloth was... well, can't tell you much but she was certainly not from the contemporary time frame... it was annoying to see them use vernacular such as "freak out" or "gaslighting." I can understand why the dialogues weren't made more historical, but at least such terms that are so clearly modern could have been avoided.
⚠ MAJOR COMPLAINT: I would have liked fewer references to physical beauty and its appeal or lack thereof, though one of the ending scenes attempts to repair the damage caused. The constant body-shaming that Santiago undergoes was not funny but offensive. Even Cloth is ridiculed multiple times by referencing her flat chest. Sorry to say this, but whenever any anatomical references came up, my mind chimed, “Male author alert!”
⚠ MINOR COMPLAINT: I could have done without the cigarette smoking. Seeing a fantastical entity such as Death smoke was way too revolutionary a writing choice for me, though some might like this quirky character trait.

All in all, though the modern lingo and the writing style didn't enthral me, the intriguing plot and the interesting characters kept me reading till the end. For a debut novel, this is surprisingly nuanced and doesn't succumb to the usual "kitchen sink syndrome" of overloading themes.

While this is tagged as general SFF, the language, the writing and themes make me recommend it more to YA lovers.

3.75 stars.

My thanks to Red Pants Press, LLC and NetGalley for the DRC of “Death, the Gardener”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I enjoyed some parts of this book and other parts not so much.
I really liked the premise of this book but I sadly struggled with the writing style.
I also found it quite slow at times.
I still would recommend giving this book a go!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I must say that i got intrude with this book. A narrative that depicts reality in its full capacity.
PRECISE AND INFORMATIVE
Although i am tempted to ask - "What is your source of inspiration to lay down a piece like this?"
I hope u pardon me for this inquisition but my curiosity got the best of me.